


Choice Words

by AlastorGrim



Category: Invader Zim
Genre: Attempt at Humor, Choose Your Own Adventure, Choose Your Weapon, Crack Treated Seriously, Dating Adventure, I'll add tags as we go, Multi, Romance, Short Chapters, Why Am I GOING To Write This?, Why Did I Write This?, lots of possibilities, lots of ships
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-01-18
Updated: 2020-07-04
Packaged: 2021-02-26 07:48:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 5,106
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22301032
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AlastorGrim/pseuds/AlastorGrim
Summary: PLAYER SELECT:Zim! - A petite, angry alien hellbent on world destruction.Dib!: A willowy, angsty teen hellbent on finding proof of the supernatural.PRESS PLAY ¤
Relationships: Dib & Gaz (Invader Zim), Dib & Zim (Invader Zim), Dib/Keef, Dib/Spleenk, Dib/Tak (Invader Zim), Dib/The Almighty Tallest, Dib/Torque Smackey, Dib/Zim (Invader Zim), Invader Skoodge/Zim, Keef/Zim (Invader Zim), Professor Membrane/Zim, Tak/Zim (Invader Zim), The Almighty Tallest/Zim
Comments: 13
Kudos: 21





	1. Choose Your Player:

[PLAYER SELECT:](https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12415435/Choice-Words)

_**Zim!**_ \- An Irken elite Invader of small stature but loud personality. Eyes, magenta. Skin, olive (green).  
Analysis: Adorable.  
Seven potential romances.

_**Dib!**_ \- A determined young man of tall stature and volatile personality. Eyes, Amber. Skin, beige.  
Analysis: Feisty.  
Seven potential romances.

PLEASE SELECT ONLY ONE CHARACTER.


	2. Player: ZIM

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Man, y'all for real hate Dib, huh...

It was a relatively normal day in the Skool prison, with Ms. Bitters taking up the topic of the Evolution of Bees with reluctance, as it didn't feature any sort of maiming and or _doom_. Zim had no interest in bees, especially not in their earlier, less menacing form of fuzzy bulbous bodies with mere bony stingers, so he was almost as disappointed as the teacher drone seemed to be. 

Across the room, Dib was staring out of the window, brow furrowed in a way that normally meant he was thinking hard about something unpleasant. Zim hoped it was about him.

Behind Zim, Keef and Zita were exchanging a folded slip of paper that seemed to serve as some sort of archaic communications device. Then, bored as he was with the lesson, Zim saw Zita lean back in her chair in his peripheral vision to murmur something to Keef. Something with Zim's name involved. 

Narrowing his eyes, Zim automatically became hyper alert, plots immediately taking root in his mind like weeds, each more fantastic than the last. Perhaps Zita was onto him? He had seen her beginning to spend more time in the Dib's prescence, like a few other female dirt children, so it was possible that some of Dib's ramblings (now that they had lost their hysterical edge) had gotten through her thick skull. That wouldn't do.

Zim hummed thoughtfully to himself as he schemed. Wasn't Zita allergic to nuts?

Zim grinned, slow and wicked, and chuckled menacingly to himself, rubbing his hands together. _Perfect_. He was a genius!

The bell rang for lunch, and Zim was the first out of his seat, launching out of the classroom and bolting for the cafeteria. A few people looked at him oddly, as Zim was usually one to shuffle his feet and complain about the lunch period, but they ultimately shrugged it off. It was Zim, after all.

He reached the meal station room first, and hurried sneakily over to the basket of granola bars and pastries that advertised 'Nut Free!' in scribbly red marker. It had been implemented by the Skool board after the fourth worm baby died of a swollen tongue and the parental units threatened to sue, but Zim had never paid it much mind beyond a faint curiosity. 

Until now, that was.

Working quickly, Zim dumped the entire contents of the basket into the waste bucket, then proceeded to grab handfuls of the other snack foods behind the cafeteria counter that boasted of things like all-mounds, cashoos, and peanuts. He then dumped them into the basket, replaced it on its stand, and scurried over to his regular table to wait. 

The cafeteria filled slowly but surely, and Zim watched impatiently from the table right next to the snack stand for his victim to approach. Given that the snacks were the only edible part of the midday meal times, Zim had no doubts his plan would work.

Zita came in with two other females, Gretchen and Sinthey. Zim watched carefully as they went through the line, stopped by the snacks, and took one each. 

Zim hissed in preemptive triumph, briefly scanning for the Dib so he couldn't interfere. He found his nemesis sitting with his sister in the corner, thoroughly distracted. Excellent.

Thin, false blue eyes zeroed back in on the table a few to the left of Zim, and he watched with anticipation as the wretched filth beasts ate their poison and headed closer to their _doom_. Then he waited for them to open the snacks. Sinthey was the first to finish, but to Zim's knowledge she did not share the peanut weakness, so she was irrelevant. 

But then, to Zim's surprise, it was _Gretchen_ who collapsed first, face swelling up and turning a splotchy red as her inferior esophagus closed up. 

Oh, yes, Zim remembered now. It was Gretchen with the peanut allergy, not Zita. Oh well. In any case, it seemed like Zita was thoroughly distracted anyway, as she screamed for help and shook her friend by the shoulders as if it would help stop Gretchen from suffocating.

"Zim!" A familiar voice barked, and Zim looked up to see Dib storming over to his table, glowering fiercely. "What the hell did you do?"

"Eh? What makes you think the almighty Zim did something? YOU HAVE NO PROOF, EARTH BOY!" Zim screeched preemptively, brandishing a finger in Dib's face once he got close enough.

"You were _literally_ just laughing about how you switched out the snacks! You stood on top of the table and everything, like you always do when you've done something!" Dib retorted, angry. 

Had he really? Zim looked down. He was indeed standing on the table. Huh.

Well this was a predicament.

_Zim's in a pickle. Does he:_

_ A. Throw peanuts in Dib's face and run away._  
_B. Stay to engage in the argument further._  
_C. Accuse Dib of being the one to switch the snacks._

[ANSWER SELECT](https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12869676/Choice-Words)


	3. Route: A1

With Dib's accusing glare on his face and the growing attention of the crowd around them, Zim panicked. Grabbing a handful of the peanut snacks from the basket, he hurled them at Dib's face and fled while the human was distracted by the salted projectiles. 

Zim burst out of the cafeteria and down the hall, before making a split second decision and bolting through a door to the outside as well. Once there, he leaned his back against the wall and huffed, spooch racing. That was close.

Though Zim had half expected Dib to chase after him, after a few minutes, it was clear that he wasn't. A little miffed, but ultimately relieved, Zim pushed himself off the wall so he could make his way back to the base. He'd had his fill of Skool today, thank you. Zim marched briskly around the corner of the building, only to run into something large and solid. He bounced off and landed on his butt, bewildered and affronted.

A group of students around the age of most of the other dirt children in Zim's class stood clustered together, blocking the walkway and clouding it over with a foul smelling smoke. The one Zim had run into, a thickset woman dressed entirely in black, glanced back at him and sneered.

"Watch where you're going, shortstack."

"How DARE you, festering _worm meat_!" Zim shrieked, furious. He got to his feet once more and stalked forward until he was close enough to stab his finger into the woman's arm. "You were standing _Zim's_ way, so it is _you_ who should be watching yourself! Now step aside, stink beast, let me through!"

Expression darkening, the woman turned to face him completely, and Zim was suddenly very aware of how much bigger she was than him. Combined with the sheer expanse of her muscle mass, it made for a rather intimidating sight. "What did you just say to me?"

But Zim had never been one to keep his mouth shut, even when he knew he should have. He bared his teeth at the reeking human, hackles raised. "Are your pathetic ear-holes broken? Zim's words were clear!"

"Oho, now you're in it," She growled, crushing the white smoking stick in her fists. "Vina, Troy, help me teach our little friend here a lesson."

"Zim doubts any lesson of yours would be worthwhile, considering the apparent state of your intellect, you brute," Zim snarled back, hackles raised as the age old complex of height began to squirm in his chest, incensed.

Lips curling into an angry scowl, the woman took a step forward and pulled out a small purple oval. Zim only got a second to admire it (it was very shiny) before a sharp knife jutted out of the other end. She swung it at him, and Zim yelped, leaping back before it could catch him across the chest. The other two whipped out knives as well, though from where, Zim couldn't tell. 

Out numbered and alarmed, Zim backed up hastily. Perhaps he should've stayed to fight with Dib, as he always did. Or accused him of the snack switching--that way it would've been Dib chased out here and cornered by blade-weilding humans, not Zim.

But it was too late for that now. 

Knowing it was too crowded in this area to let out his PAK legs, Zim turned on heel and sprinted in the other direction with a scream of terror, the angry teenagers hot on his heels.

"You're gonna regret the day you were born, asshole!"

"Let's get him, Troy!"

"HOPE YOU'RE READY TO DIE, FREAK!"

Zim shrieked and picked up the pace, easily keeping ahead of the teenagers with his superior Irken speed. But if there was one thing Zim had learned from fighting Dib for years, it was that what humans lacked in speed, they made up for in endurance. So eventually the humans would catch up to Zim if he did not lose them.

Making a hasty decision, Zim hooked a right towards the bigger cityscape, running further into the cluttered buildings and throngs of unwashed heathens so he had a chance of losing his tails. Zim ran and turned and ran and turned and ran and turned until he could no longer hear the shouts behind him. Breathing heavily, Zim pressed his back to the wall of the alley he was currently crouched in and huffed. 

His antennae strained, but even his exceptional hearing couldn't pick up any distinct voices in the crowds milling past. Zim let out a relieved breath, perking up. 

Good, he'd lost them! 

However, they had been persistent, and Zim had been running for a while. The sun was much further down in the sky than he remembered it being. Looking at the buildings surrounding him, they all looked the same. He had no idea where he was.

An intercom extended from his PAK, and Zim leaned forward into it as it crackled. "GIR! I need you to come get me!"

There was another prickle of static, and then...was that rave music? Oh, not again! Argh, it was like that horrid walk with GIR all over again! Or the thing with the bees. Ugh, the _bees_.

Zim shuddered.

His intercom retracted back into his PAK and he rubbed his hands together, anxiously contemplating his next move. 

On one hand, he could try to wait for GIR. But that would take who knew how long, and Zim had things to do, schemes to plan, plots to enact! No, that wouldn't work. He could always try to find his way on foot, but risked getting even more lost than he currently was that way. He could also try to scale the buildings so he could try to find his way home by roof, but that came with the risk of someone seeing him. 

What was he going to do?

.

_A. Use his PAK legs to climb over the buildings so he can see.  
B. Try to find his way on foot._

[ANSWER SELECT](https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12415435/Choice-Words)


	4. Route A1, A2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> (This took way too long I am so sorry.)
> 
> Alright! We're getting close to the end of these Routes! Unless you guys want a threesome option? WHICH I wouldn't particularly recommend with this route but also--I have no room to say anything :,) Choose wisely~

Zim let out a huff and rolled his shoulders. After that entire debacle with GIR the last time Zim had found himself lost in the city, Zim had no desire to wander around aimlessly for hours. He would take to the rooftops instead.

His PAK legs emerged from their divets and he held his breath as he used them to take him up the side of the building he was next to. Nobody even glanced in his direction.

Releasing a heavy sigh, Zim let his PAK legs pull him onto the roof of the building and withdraw. Spinning slowly, Zim was pleased to find that this was one of the taller buildings, and he could see over the horizon easily. With his superior Irken vision, he was able to scan the landscape and pinpoint his base from afar. 

Direction set and locked, Zim's PAK legs peeked out once more. Bracing them against the filthy concrete of the roof, Zim used them to leap to the next rooftop and scuttle across it to the next. 

At this rate, he would be at the culdesac in no time, and then he could put this whole mess behind him.

However, Zim hadn't even made it halfway before he was derailed yet again. 

He was about to make the leap to the next rooftop, when a high-pitched whine suddenly rang through the air. His antennae flattened back against his skull even under his wig, and his spooch churned in unease. A metallic buzzing sound grew louder and louder between the crevice of the two buildings, before a large cloud of insects suddenly burst up like a tidal wave from the mouth of them. Zim screamed and scrambled backwards.

Bees. _Metal_ bees. Metal, robot bees.

Zim didn't think. He turned and _ran_, his extra appendages scraping frantically across gravel and brick in order to escape the hoard of hellish pests that had just swelled up to greet him. 

"What," Zim panted shrill as he sprinted and lept from building to building, angry buzzing not far behind him. "On _Irk_ are THOSE!?"

In his panic, Zim wasn't as surefooted as he normally would have been. His PAK leg screeched across an uneven brick, sparked, and sent him tipping over the side of the building. Granted, it was away from the _horrible_ bees, but hitting the ground from great heights was also never fun.

Shrieking and flailing as he pinwheeled through the air, his PAK legs automatically retracted so they wouldn't break on impact or impale him. Zim squeezed his eyes shut and braced for pain, only to land soundly in a pair of rubbery arms. Zim's eyes flew open and he blinked.

"Why, hello there!" Professor Membrane--the Dib's progenitor, Zim remembered--greeted cheerfully. "I noticed you falling from the roof and decided to spare you an untimely death. You're welcome!"

"I--Zim--the BEES--" Zim wheezed out, breathless from both running and the fall. 

The Professor face, or what Zim could see of it, pinched contritely. "Ah, yes. I had an intern take the reigns on one of the new model's test runs. It got away from them fairly quickly. But! Not everyone can handle desperately clinging to the saddle of the beast called _science_!" He proclaimed as he spun on heel to face the large, dark building Zim hadn't noticed before. A large, glassy blue sign reading **ML** marred the top of it. "Which is why I must ask--I saw your use of bracketed extendable brace legs, and I would love to invite you inside to look at them! Did you make them yourself?"

Seeing as the Professor currently had ahold of Zim and was already walking towards the doors of the building, Zim didn't see much of a choice in the matter. He narrowed his eyes and flexed his claws, wondering idly if he'd need to fight the Dib-father to escape. "...Yes. Zim definitely made the extendable legs! Zim is very proficient in ALL forms of creation!"

The Professor looked delighted. "An inventor! It's so rare to see innovative young minds taking initiative in today's day and age. And the fact that you've managed to create these things by yourself is _very_ impressive."

"Why yes, yes it is," Zim preened, thoroughly distracted from the fact that he was now in the building by the praise. He'd been set down once they'd come in, though it didn't really register.

"You know, I could give you a tour of the Labs. We could surely use someone like you around here--especially with the new intern position that just opened up!" Professor Membrane offered as he passed by what seemed to be a control panel and pressed a button. It turned red and there was a loud slam in the distance, followed by an agonized scream. 

Before Zim could respond, a familiar voice echoed down the metallic halls. 

"Zim! What the hell are you doing here?" Dib demanded, abandoning the group of scientists crowded around him and storming over to where Zim and his progenitor were standing. A white lab coat swept behind him--a startling contrast to the usual black.

"Language, son!" The Professor scolded. He placed a heavy hand on Zim's shoulder. "He was almost an unfortunate casualty of our latest bee replacement experiments, so I invited him in to look over his work and offer him a job!"

Dib skidded to a stop right in front of them, looking like someone had just slapped him with a wet towel. "WHAT?"

Zim snickered evilly and waved a hand at Dib. "That's right, Dib! I have gained access to your place of work! ALL according to plan!"

It wasn't really any sort of plan, considering that Zim didn't even know if working for the Dib-father in the long run would be conducive to the plan to take over Earth. But the look on Dib's stupid face made it worth it.

Flushing pink, Dib gestured wildly between Zim and the Professor. "I--_Dad_! You can't hire him! Zim is an alien! He's probably here to, I don't know, steal the specs for your world-ending weapons or hack into your data base so he can delete all of your other inventions to make it easier to take over Earth!"

Zim hadn't even thought of any of that. But now he was. 

Professor Membrane's brow furrowed and he sighed. "Son, how many times do we have to go through this? There _are no aliens_. It's very rude to accuse someone of being a cryptid! Now apologize at once, young man."

"But--!"

"No buts, Dib!"

Gritting his teeth, Dib turned to Zim with a bitten-back snarl. "I am so _sorry_, Zim." Then, Dib's eyes sparked and he smirked. "I mean, dad's right. I shouldn't have accused you of being an alien. After all, only a really, really stupid species of alien would take over five years to conquer a planet they were sent to invade. The leader's of a race like that must be pretty damn _pathetic_."

Zim's blood boiled. He snarled and clenched his fists. 

_A. Take the bait._  
_B. Let it go._

[ANSWER SELECT](https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12415435/Choice-Words)


	5. Route A1, A2, A3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was a close one folks...

But really, when it's Dib, when has Zim ever been able to hold back?

Zim launched himself at the Dib, going for his eyes with vicious claws and sending the human stumbling back with a yelp of surprise. Then those irritatingly piercing eyes narrowed, and Dib rolled them almost as soon as Zim had him on the ground. Vaguely, Zim registered Professor Membrane sighing heavily and murmuring, "Kids," before retreating back towards the other scientists.

Zim flailed at Dib's face with his claws, managing to clip him right under the jaw in a blow that had Dib recoiling with a curse. Zim balled up and kicked him in the chest, sending him flying back across the room and into the control panel.

It fizzed and sparked, clearly broken, glass shards clinging to the back of Dib's lab coat as the human gathered himself back up and dove out of the way as Zim lunged again, turning quickly to plant his foot in Zim's side to punt him away from him. Zim used his PAK legs to scitter to a stop just inside one of the labs, growling lowly as he watched Dib square his stance and scowl back. He had gotten so strong. So _tall_.

It was _annoying_.

Zim snarled and grabbed a beaker off the nearest lab table, flinging it at Dib's face before rushing him. Dark purple liquid splattered all over Dib's front just as a siren went off and the lights went dark. Dib made a high noise as Zim slammed into him, sending them both crashing to the floor yet again. An arm flailed out and brushed across Zim's cheek--then pulled back and punched him across the face. A crunch, and Zim shrieked, enraged further as he grappled with the snarling, spitting human writhing on the floor as flashes of red light began to spiral over them.

Zim punched Dib in the face, once, twice, and then struck his PAK legs through the sleeves of the lab coat to pin him down, the last leg not holding his balance placed beneath Dib's chin to trace threateningly across his throat.

Dib stilled.

His chest heaved beneath where Zim was kneeling on it, hands flexing as the dark purple substance that Zim had hoped was acid, but was clearly _not_, lit up a brilliant shade of turquoise every time the red flashes circled away. Purple, blue, purple, blue, purple. Blue.

Something else splattered onto Dib's cheek, still blue, but a darker shade. Less luminous. Zim realized that Dib must've split his lip when he punched him. He could taste the honeyed tang of his own blood in his mouth.

Zim bared his teeth down at Dib. "It's over for you, Dib-stink. You will _never_ insult my Tallest again!"

"Why do you even care?" Dib coughed out, glaring. Between the purple-blue liquid on his cheek, and the flashing red lights, his eyes almost seemed to glow. Still so defiant, even with Zim's blade pressed to his throat. "I insult you all the time, much more creatively, but I take a swing at your leaders and that's where you draw the line?" Dib scoffed, then turned his head to the side and spit his disgusting, red tinged saliva near Zim's PAK leg.

Zim pressed his claws into Dib's shoulders and growled. He leaned in close to Dib's face, spooch pounding harshly with leftover adrenaline. "It's a matter of principle, human. I wouldn't expect _you_ to understand that. Your species is so fickle. They hate you."

"Right back at you, alien scum," Dib spat in return, face twisted up in anger.

Zim's eyes flashed and he snarled, pressing his blades in close on all sides, digging his claws deep as Dib hissed in pain. "Zim could kill you, right now, if I wished! Nobody would miss you!"

Dib bared his teeth right back, met Zim's eyes and uttered, "_Then do it._"

_A. Kiss him._  
_B. Run away._  
_ <strike>C. Kill him.</strike> _

[ _ANSWER SELECT_ ](https://www.quotev.com/quiz/12415435/Choice-Words)


	6. Route A1, A2, A3, A4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was REALLY close. One person difference between A and C. Again, I reiterate, Y'ALL FOR REAL HATE DIB, HUH.

Zim wasn't exactly sure what possessed him to do it. Later, he could blame it on the adrenaline and rant about his balance being off or even blame the Dib himself, somehow.

But whatever the reason, pinning Dib to the lab floor, covered in glass shards and questionable substances, Zim leaned down--

And kissed him.

Zim clawed his sharp talons into Dib's shoulders and swooped down to mash his mouth against Dib's in a messy, painful endeavor that had them clacking teeth and biting tongues and tasting blood. To Zim's quiet surprise, Dib didn't hesitate to respond, arching up beneath Zim's hands and kissing him back just as roughly. 

Even in this, they fought. Fought like they had every day of their lives leading up to this moment and probably would every day after. Hand scrabbled for purchase and dug into flesh where nails could find it, Dib valiantly trying to both roll Zim off him and pull him closer. 

One hand closed around one of the metal limbs jutting out of Zim's back and yanked, upsetting Zim's precarious balance and sending him sprawling across the human's chest, dislodging their lips. Zim growled and sunk his teeth into the flesh in front of him in retaliation. Dib jerked and cursed, scrambling for another hold on Zim. 

"_Damn_ it, Zim!" Dib snarled as he finally got them rolled over and pried Zim's teeth from his shoulder. Blood seeped sluggishly into the white fabric of his lab coat, staining it crimson. 

Zim was glad Dib wasn't wearing his normal trench coat in that moment. The slow spread of red was mesmerizing. The taste of it, however...

He licked the backs of his teeth and sneered at the bitter tang of iron. "Digusting," Zim spat, even as he reached up to yank Dib back down again, kissing him soundly once more. "You," Zim ground out between kisses. "_Infuriating_ little...dirt-monster!"

Dib grimaced at the taste of his own blood, pulling back. The flashing red lights still sent that odd liquid from the vial Zim had thrown at him into sporadic tints of blue and purple, but when the crimson of Dib's blood mixed with it, it turned white and sizzled loudly. Dib's eyes widened a fraction of a second before the substance exploded, sending him toppling off Zim with a cry. Zim let out a yelp of pain as flecks of the substance bit into his face, turning his head and screwing his oculars shut as heat burned at the side of his face.

Whatever the red light above the had been burst as well, cloaking them both in darkness. Zim scrambled to his feet, pawing at the side of his face that was still burning, though less prominently now. He blinked open his eyes and squinted in the dark for Dib. He saw him a foot or so away, shakily trying to push himself up with his hands as he groped blindly for his ocular repairs. 

Zim was aware that humans' eyesight was absymal, and Dib's was doubly so, and so he stepped forward to grab the wire frames that Dib had been fumbling around like an idiot and shoved them onto Dib's face. Dib cried out, a hand flying up to cup the side of his face as his expression contorted in pain. Zim blinked. "You are glowing."

"What?" Dib rasped out, squinting for Zim as those weird black circles at the center of his eyes expanded to make up for the lack of light. Zim licked his lips.

"Your face. It's yellow now."

"What!" Dib yelped again, more shrilly. He staggered up to his feet and felt wildly around for something to steady himself. Zim grabbed his arm, amused and annoyed when Dib tried to flinch away. Dib's eyes landed on him at last, and they blinked, illuminated further by the shine of metallic yellow all across the right side of his face and down his throat, disappearing beneath the dark fabric of his Mysterious Mysteries t-shirt and shimmering faintly from under the hem of it. It was rather pretty. 

Dib was staring at him, wide-eyed, and Zim snapped out an irritated, "What?"

"You're glowing too," Dib breathed. He stepped closer and ran his hand over Zim's now sore cheek. "It's golden." He sounded awestruck, hostility and panic vanishing beneath that all consuming curiosity that made Zim's spooch flip. Then, Dib looked down at himself, frowning when he saw how much more glowy he was than Zim. He pulled his shirt up slightly to reveal that the substance had gone right through the fabric when it had exploded, and engrained itself into the skin of his stomach instead. Dib groaned. "Zim, what did you _do_? What even was this stuff? And why did you--" Dib bit his already bitten lip. "Why did you kiss me?" He asked, softer.

Zim's antennae shot up so fast they nearly sent his wig flying. A deep, mauve blush dusted over his cheeks. "I-I did not!"

Irritation painted Dib's face once more. "Yes, you did."

"No, I didn't!

"Yes you did! I have teeth marks in my neck to prove it!"

"YOU'RE LYING!" Zim shrieked, tightening his grip on Dib's hand until he could feel the fragile bones beneath it creak. Dib cursed.

"Fine, whatever! Just stop crushing my fingers!" Dib huffed as Zim loosened his grip, but didn't let go entirely. Dib looked at him again, curious and frustrated. The splatter of gold now engrained in his skin was...distracting.

Narrowing his eyes and affecting a nonchalant tone, Zim dug his claws into Dib's palm and licked the residual blood off his own mouth. "Now, if the Dib is all done flapping his lying mouth hole, Zim would propose a solution to our situation." Dib glared at him, but motioned for him to continue. "You will accompany Zim back to my base--_without_ your horrible cameras--and you will help me find a way to reverse the, eeehh, glowy...STUFF!" 

Dib raised an eyebrow, looking unimpressed, but Zim could hear the way his heart began to beat more quickly against his ribs. "You're inviting me into your base? Why should I even help you?"

Zim knew that Dib was struggling not to jump at the opportunity to stick his stupid nose further into Zim's business, but the human was being all _stubborn_ and _dumb_ about it. Zim growled. "Because, useless Dib, neither of us know what this horrid substance does. Zim is being benevolent by offering you a chance to work with my BRILLIANT self, and still you're being _stupid_, even after Zim didn't take the offer to kill you!"

"Yeah, because you kissed--"

"YOU WILL ACCOMPANY ME TO MY BASE," Zim bellowed loudly, plowing over Dib's words with an angry flush on his face. "Do we have a deal?"

Those sharp, too curious eyes glimmered lowly at him. Dib tipped his head, lips pursed. It seemed like he was trying to not to laugh. "Sure, Space Boy. We have a deal. Lead the way."

Down the hall, booming and frustrated, came a voice. The Professor. "DIB!"

Dib went pale, the gold in his face shimmering brightly in contrast. He gripped Zim's hand back tightly. "Uh, quickly?" He swallowed, voice gone high. 

Zim hummed and extended his PAK legs again, sliding his arms around Dib's waist and hefting them both up off the ground. "Try not lose your frail organs on the trip down, Dib-thing."

Freezing in his spluttering, Dib looked up at him sharply. "Trip down? What do you mean trip down?"

Grinning meanly, Zim scuttled across the dark hall, shot out the window, and lept out of it. Zim cackled with the shatter of glass and the panicked screech of Dib, and then they were gone. Zim carted a screaming and swearing Dib across rooftops and thought, privately, that his weight and warmth felt nice. He thought, again privately, that he'd like to have Dib close to him more often. 

(Not to mention that the kissing seemed to be a good way to silence Dib's loud mouth).

But nobody could prove Zim was thinking those things. Certainly not Dib. Zim smiled to himself and tightened his grip on Dib.

This could be the start of something fun.

. 

.

. 

RETURN TO START 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> End of Route All As :D

**Author's Note:**

> There are ten potential people to romance at the beginning of this book. By making your choices, you will eliminate them from the pool of possibility. Choose wisely.


End file.
